Dana Talmi

Dana Talmi

Born in England and raised in the Netherlands and Israel, Dana has over 20 years of experience working in the fields of experiential education and service learning. She started her career as a tour-guide in Israel in Hebrew, English and Dutch. After working for several years as a tour guide throughout Israel, Dana moved to the United States and continued her involvement in Jewish education. She was an educator at the Teva Learning Alliance and a teacher at the Florence Melton School. In 2002, Dana led her first service learning trip to Honduras and the Ukraine with American Jewish World Service (AJWS). For the next few years, she continued leading service learning programs for Jewish college students. In 2005, she joined the AJWS staff and was responsible for hiring, training and managing group leaders for service-learning trips to Africa, Asia and Latin America. In 2007 Dana returned to Israel with her family and soon after, founded Yahel – Israel Service Learning – an educational nonprofit that trains, supports and inspires individuals and organizations to take part in responsible and sustainable volunteering in Israel alongside local community members. Yahel equips young people with the tools and skills to take initiative and become life-long leaders of social change.

Dana holds a B.A. in Israel studies from Bar-Ilan University and an M.S.W. with a focus on community organizing and group work from the University of North Carolina. Dana loves living in Zichron Ya’akov with her husband and three children.